Vancouver – Queenstown on steroids

Like any other big city, it has a number of homeless bedding down on the street and a few shouters and ravers wandering by, adding to the melting pot of colour and cultures evident here. It has a wide divergence of ethnicities and languages, with only 52% having English as a first language.

We also noticed a medicinal cannabis clinic and shops that sold drug paraphernalia, amongst other things. However, you did have to be over 19 to enter the shop, so I suppose they are exercising responsibility. Peep shows were only 25 cents a peep – bargain!

Mr greasy, a grey pony scraped back over his balding pate asked us for money as we waited to cross at the traffic lights. He looked quite smart in navy blue shorts and a white and blue striped shirt but you could tell he wasn’t well. He said wanted to have something to eat and a warm night’s sleep, which is not an unreasonable request. He was polite and thanked us for not ignoring him, like so many others had. He quickly moved on without causing a fuss. He smiled exposing a mouth full of broken teeth that were mere shards of yellow and grey bone scattered in his gums.

I admit I was an easy target though. I may as well have had tourist tattooed on my forehead. Wearing Kathmandu trousers (akin to the fashion disaster that speedos are) and a soft bag slung over my shoulder and around my neck, it was obvious that I wasn’t a local.